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lancair 320

hi all
i just bought a lancer 320 quick build kit and need help with my build please. i am an A&P and have been working for american airlines for 32 years. i hold a instrument, commercial, and multi engine ratings. i have the plane in a hangar at KPOC bracket field southern california. i like to know if there are any video links so i can get an idea about composite building process which is more directed to the lancair. any help would greatly be appreciated.

What I've found is that composite construction, to a greater degree than most other construction systems, is something you need to try out in order to understand. I think that is why my "akaflieg" build sessions are so popular; folks really learn from hands-on experience what it is like to fabricate and assemble full-size composite fuselages and wings.

My recommendations are:

* Make contact with someone with actual Lancair experience and get them to talk you through the process--basically what it looks like you're trying to do with this post.

* Get some of the materials and try out the processes. Making the Rutan bookends is probably a good start. Use blue foam, 7725 fiberglass, and Jeffco 1307/3176 epoxy.

* Important: Always, or as nearly always as practical, take precautions to not come into direct contact with epoxy. It's not very toxic, but it is definitely sensitizing, so if you get too much exposure you _will_ eventually become allergic to it. And then you pretty much have to stop using it, which puts a big damper on your project. Wear nitrile gloves, and if you do get a smear of epoxy on your skin, immediately down tools and do a vinegar wipe before proceeding.

* Inventory your kit to make sure you know exactly what parts you have and what assembly steps are done. That way you can make a realistic assessment as to what is between what you have a flying airplane.

* Make sure you understand exactly why the kit you bought was for sale. For some builders, they simply arrive at an understanding how much work is involved, decide that the cost/benefit ratio doesn't work for them, and move on. For some builders, they arrive at a specific task or assembly procedure that seems too challenging. And for some builders, they realize that they have made a critical construction error, and going back and fixing it is just too much. And for some it is a combination of all three.

* Make a deliberate decision about what kind of build quality you are working towards. Of course, the lower limit here is "of a condition for safe operation throughout the operational envelope." But between there and "Oshkosh trophy winner" is a huge range of conscientiousness. I generally steer clients towards the middle of that range, with worklike construction and good paint and fit and finish, but absent the obsessive attention to detail that gets you a show trophy. That means that when you mess something up, you go back and repair it instead of throwing parts out and starting over. It means that there might be minor irregularities, but you observe important rules like bondline thicknesses and widths, fastener edge clearances, etc, and the wings are not twisted and both have the same mean incidence.

I'm in Big Bear and built a Piulsar XP composite experimental. Also retired from Boeing as composites engineering specialist.
I could fly down to Brackett and discuss composite fabrication details with you. Might cost you a bkfst.
Bob H

Read the kit assembly manual, especially the first couple of chapters. It has all the information you need to successfully build your kit, other than non-kit systems, like avionics and upholstery. If your joints don’t look like the ones from the Philippines, you’re probably not doing it right, like using too much epoxy in your tapes.